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Event symposium to be held this week

Canmore is about to begin examining events held in the community as major drivers for tourism and the local economy. Tomorrow (Feb.

Canmore is about to begin examining events held in the community as major drivers for tourism and the local economy.

Tomorrow (Feb. 25) will see event planners, producers, facility managers and organizations that use events to increase their profiles gather to identify resources and gaps in services needed to expand event offerings.

The event symposium, being hosted and driven by the Canmore Destination Marketing Fund, is the first action item to be undertaken out of the Sustainable Economic Development and Tourism Strategy accepted by council last year.

Spokesperson for the DMF Richard Leavens said the official objective of the workshop is to explore the benefits new and existing events present as tourism economic drivers by gaining a full understanding of the effects, development, marketing and production of them.

“It is to look at events as tourism and economic drivers,” he said. “There are an amazing number of events in Canmore… the workshop will look at production, marketing, economic impact and benefits.”

The DMF is providing the funding needed for the workshop. Leavens said he thinks the expenditure is worthwhile because events can be used to create a brand for Canmore and attract people to the community.

Canmore Economic Development Authority executive director Teresa Mullen said the strategy accepted last year recognized events as a major component of Canmore’s tourism product and they play an important role in the community.

“What we want to do is understand our capacity for events,” Mullen said. “We want to maximize the ability of events as economic drivers and at the same time maintain the integrity of the community.”

She said the workshop will involve exploring what is the current situation for events, what foundations exist, what capacity is there for new events and during what seasons and where events can evolve into the future.

One thing that could come out of the work, Mullen added, is where there are gaps. For example, she said volunteer burnout is a real concern for existing events.

Another expected outcome is a better understanding of the municipality’s role in events and the supports the Town offers for new and existing events.

The DMF is a voluntary group of 13 hotels in Canmore and Kananaskis that have chosen to put a three per cent levy on hotel rooms in order to fund tourism marketing of the region.

The fund has contributed $250,000 this year towards Tourism Canmore Kananaskis and also funds local events like the upcoming community celebrations in association with the Haywood Ski Nationals.


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